
Bruce Kulick talks about the new album, BK3, his vast gear collection, and the thrills of recording and writing with some of his favorite artists.
Kulick recently spoke to PG about the new album, his vast gear collection, and the thrills of recording and writing with some of his favorite artists.
Tell me about the making of this album and what sparked it?
Well, the song āIāll Surviveā refers to me getting shot on Sunset Boulevard. I feel that I was blessed that day and was very fortunate that I survived despite some guy having a crazed desire to shoot a gun wildly on the street. The bullet went through my leg, and one nicked my head. I was literally an inch away from being crippled or dead. That happened in October of 2003, and I wrote most of the music during my healing process that November. I really love how that track came out, with a little bit of my Beatles, Aerosmith, and Pink Floyd influencesāyou know, bands that I really, really love. That was the first thing I wrote for the record. Jeremy and I had some other material that didnāt end up on the album, but it was a little more in the pop direction and I wanted it to be heavier. Having Gene and Nick involved really helped bring that out. But the album still has a great variety of songs, from heavy rock tunes to a ballad, and I love that.
Whatās the biggest difference between BK3 and your previous solo efforts?
Itās more about collaborating with someone who had a bigger vision, which would be Jeremy Rubolinoāthe guy who produced it with me. Jeremy always had this vision of me doing the definitive solo record. He wanted to work with me on Transformer, but I was already committed and in the studio at that point. I really liked this compilation CD he gave me with material that he worked on with other bands, so I promised him the opportunity to work with me when I was ready to start the third record so we could see what would happen. Jeremy is a huge Kiss fan and is the cousin of Bob Ezrin. I always saw talent in him with some of the work that I did with him in the past. He worked at my brotherās [Bob Kulick] studio, and I got to hang with him. Eventually, he hired me to be on a record that he produced for Thomas Ian Nicholas [of American Pie fame], and that was when we started writing together. It was great to see what an eccentric, brilliant perfectionist he was, and he was always challenging me.
How did that impact the songs and your playing?
With my previous solo work, money and time played a big part in the recording process. This time, I got to remove those two factors. If a song had to be done three times, it was done three timesāmeaning in three different sessions. If a song needed a rewrite, it was rewritten. I wasnāt able to do that when I was working by myself on the other two solo records. Jeremyās tenacity of pushing things until he was really happy helped out the process a lot. He was able to point out when something was magical or not [laughs]. Overall, it was a constant process of not settling for anything and making sure that there were no filler songs.
So working with Jeremy really allowed you to open up creatively.
Oh yeah! For example, this record has the best vocals Iāve ever done, and I know thatās due to him. Heās also very in tune with my guitar style, and heāll say things like āLetās stick a little harmony line in there.ā Heās very, very good at things like that. So not only does he help with songwriting, but he also helps me arrange the guitars in a very musical yet challenging manner. And thatās the Ezrin factor right there. Bob used to do things like that for Kiss. One of the biggest highlights of my career was doing the Revenge recordāit was a very educational time for me. Jeremy hasnāt really worked with his cousin too much, but I do see a very similar creative process in how he does things.
That first track, āFate,ā immediately grabbed me. Itās a barn burner!
That was actually the last track to be worked on. Sometimes you donāt know what you need until you do a big overview of what youāve done. With all the Beatles remasters coming out recently, Iāve been reading a lot of articles and things about their recording process and finding out things like, āOh wow, they recorded stuff for Sgt. Pepperās that never was actually on the album,ā and āAbbey Road wasnāt written chronologically.ā I realized every record has that opportunity to be flexible in the writing process. So with āFate,ā I was already pretty pleased with all of the songs, but Jeremy said, āWe need one more heavy rocker.ā So we reached out to Kevin Churko, who worked with Ozzy Osbourne on his last couple of records. Jeremy basically said, āHey, do you have some tracks, maybe some material that Bruce and I can jump in on?ā He had the original tracks to āFate,ā but Jeremy and I came up with a melody and an arrangement. We loved the vibe and intensity of the song, but I ended up adjusting all of the guitar parts to make it my own. You talk about being diverse, there you go! Kevin also ended up engineering the session that Gene did the bass tracks for, āAināt Gonna Die.ā
Speaking of Gene, youāve got a pretty impressive lineup of guest stars all around.
Jeremy pushed me to get Lukather. I had lunch with him and we hit it off, and I was very pleased when he said yes! Eric Singer recommended that I add Gene, and Gene offered his son Nick, as well. I met Doug Fieger at Rock ānā Roll Fantasy Camp one year, and I knew that he would be great for the power pop tune on the record that wouldnāt fit my vocals so well. Jeremy didnāt know about Tobias Sammet, but I met him through Eric and once we brought him in the studio he was thrilled to death. The guyās got a great voice! I had worked with John Corabi previously in Union, and we did some really good things. One of Jeremyās favorite albums is the second Union record, The Blue Room, so he knew just how good John and I could be together. I certainly feel like the song with John is a definitive song on the record.
How did you begin the whole tracking process?
A lot of the songs were demos at first. Then we dumped them into Pro Tools and added real drums, along with any ideas that Jeremy and I had along the way. Weād record ideas on a little tape recorder wherever inspiration struck, sometimes in my living room or somewhere else. Eventually, weād throw a drum loop or section into Pro Tools and lay the idea out, and then start overdubbing on it. It was actually pretty fun, especially when we were using this little black Gretsch acoustic with a pickup to hash out how the song would go. That was the first guitar used during the recording of the album. Then weād add bass and arrange it, overdub, redo things as needed, and then see how it turned out.
What were your main amps for the recording sessions?
I donāt own a lot of amps, but I know what a good one should sound like. When you have four or five really good tones, you can really make a lot happen. My old Marshall JCM 900 2100 series head has always been my go-to amp. It has EL34s and it just sounds killer! My tracks on the Kiss Revenge album were recorded with it. The amp doesnāt have a whole lot of versatility, but it sounds great and it gives me that big sound whenever I want it. I also like to run through a 1966 Fender Bassman head coupled with 4x12 Marshall cabs with Vintage 30s. I also have a Rivera 2x12 cabinet with Vintage 30s, and a 4x10 cab. Iād occasionally use a Marshall JCM 2000 TSL, but everything was tracked mainly with a Marshall 4x12 driven by either the Fender or the JCM 900. I love the Orange Tiny Terror for more Class A-esque tones, as well as my early reissue Vox AC30 in red tolex. I normally donāt record leads through it, but itās great for adding texture. One of the tricks that I learned a long time ago is to not play through the same thing for everything, which really helps with textures. The most recent amp that Iāve acquired is an Egnater Rebel 20, which is really flexible.
How about guitars?
My main guitar is a conversion 1953 GibsonĀ Les Paul. People who know about Les Pauls from that era would think itās a goldtop, but itās been in the Kulick family for a very long time. My brother got it in ā74. At the time, it had already been refinished with a sunburst paint job. The neck has been reset, and it has a wonderful shape. It had also been converted from P-90s to humbuckers, and it came with a stop tailpiece and Tune-o-matic bridge. Paul [Stanley]ās solo record had the guitar on it when my brother played with him. My brother didnāt really want it, and he really didnāt use it much. So I bought it from him, and I used it on every Kiss album after that. Tom Murphy repainted it for me in the ā90s, because the sunburst refinish was pretty weak. Itās just beautiful now and has the old brown case. I also have some great Les Paul reissues and a Gibson ES-330 hollowbody. ESP guitars have always treated me well, and I have some really nice ones. In fact, Steve [Lukather] played my bolt-on Vintage Plus from the ā90s on his track. Thereās nothing better than a good P bass in a song, so I have some of those as well as some Jazz basses. Gene let us borrow one of his axe basses for a track too. You can find a ton of information on my gear collection on my website, too, because Iām sure Iām forgetting a lot.
I understand you have a pretty big pedal collection, too.
Itās crazy how many pedals I own, but I have a good instinct on which ones to bring. I used my Creation Audio Labs MK. 4.23 booster a lot. It doesnāt color the sound, and it just pushes the amp when itās not giving enough. Toward the end, I got turned on to Keeley pedals, and Iām also a huge fan of vintage Boss effects. GeekMacDaddy made me a nice Univibe clone and a custom wah, which sounded more like my early Vox ones.
Whatās your favorite track on the album?
You know, I love them all, but Iām sure that you hear that all of the time! āIāll Surviveā is very personal to me, considering its inspiration. It kills me every time I hear itāI just love it. I also think Gene and I hit a real mark with āAināt Gonna Dieā and that real Revenge-era vibe. Nick did a great job, too. All in all, Iām proud of every song on there.
This Japan-made Guyatone brings back memories of hitchinā rides around the U.S.
This oddball vintage Guyatone has a streak of Jack Kerouacās adventurous, thumbing spirit.
The other day, I saw something I hadnāt noticed in quite some time. Driving home from work, I saw an interesting-looking fellow hitchhiking. When I was a kid, āhitchersā seemed much more common, but, then again, the world didnāt seem as dangerous as today. Heck, I can remember hitching to my uncleās cabin in Bradford, Pennsylvaniaāhome of Zippo lightersāand riding almost 200 miles while I sat in a spare tire in the open bed of a pickup truck! Yes, safety wasnāt a big concern for kids back in the day.
So, as Iām prone to do, I started digging around hitchhiking culture and stories. Surprisingly, there are organized groups that embrace the hitching life, but the practice remains on the fringe in the U.S. Back in the 1950s, writer Jack Kerouac wrote the novel On the Road, which celebrated hitchhiking and exposed readers to the thrill of maverick travel. Heck, even Mike Dugan (the guitarist in all my videos) hitched his way to California in the 1960s. But seeing that fellow on the side of the road also sparked another image in my brain: Yep, it always comes back to guitars.
Let me present to you a guitar thatās ready to go hitching: the Guyatone LG-180T, hailing from 1966. The āthumbs-upā headstock and the big āthumbā on the upper bout always made me think of thumbing a ride, and I bought and sold this guitar so long ago that I had forgotten about it, until I saw that hitchhiking dude. Guyatone was an interesting Japanese company because they were primarily an electronics company, and most of their guitars had their wooden parts produced by other factories. In the case of the LG-180T, the bodies were made by Yamaha in Hamamatsu, Japan. At that time, Yamaha was arguably making the finest Japanese guitars, and the wood on this Guyatone model is outstanding. We donāt often see Guyatone-branded guitars here in the U.S., but a lot of players recognize the early ā60s label Kentāa brand name used by an American importer for Guyatone guitars.
With a bit of imagination, the LG-180Tās āthumbs upā headstock seems to be looking for a roadside ride.
Kent guitars were extremely popular from the early ā60s until around 1966. The U.S. importer B&J fed the American need for electric guitars with several nice Kent models, but when the Guyatone contract ended, so did most of the Kent guitars. After that, Guyatone primarily sold guitars in Japan, so this example is a rare model in the U.S.
āUnless you are a master at guitar setups, this would be a difficult player.ā
This headstock is either the ugliest or the coolest of the Guyatone designs. I canāt decide which. I will say, no other Japanese guitar company ever put out anything like this. You have to give the Guyatone designers a thumbs up for trying to stand out in the crowd! Guyatone decided to forgo an adjustable truss rod in this model, opting instead for a light alloy non-adjustable core to reinforce the neck. Speaking of the neck, this instrument features the most odd-feeling neck. Itās very thin but has a deep shoulder (if that makes any sense). Totally strange!
Another strange feature is the bridge, which offers very little adjustment because of the three large saddles, which sort of rock back and forth with the tremolo. Itās a shame because these pickups sound great! Theyāre very crisp and have plenty of zing, but unless you are a master at guitar set-ups, this would be a difficult player.
This could be why the LG-180T only appeared in the 1966 and 1967 catalogs. After that, it disappeared along with all the other Yamaha-made Guyatone electrics. By 1969, Guyatone had gone bankrupt for the first time, and thus ended guitar production for a few decades. At least we were blessed with some wacky guitar designs we can marvel at while remembering the days when you could play in the back end of an explosive 1973 AMC Gremlin while your mom raced around town. Two thumbs up for surviving our childhoods! PG
Building upon the foundation of the beloved Core Collection H-535, this versatile instrument is designed to serve as a masterpiece in tone.
The new model features striking aesthetic updates and refined tonal enhancements. Crafted at the iconic 225 Parsons Street factory, home to other world-famous models like the H-150, H-157, and H-575 - the H-555 continues to exemplify the very best of American craftsmanship.
The Core Collection H-555 features a set of Custom Shop 225 Hot Classic Humbuckers, meticulously wound in-house with carefully selected components, and voiced to deliver added punch and richness while preserving exceptional dynamics and touch sensitivity. Seamlessly complementing the H-555ās semi-hollow construction, they blend warmth and woodiness with refined, articulate clarity.
The Core Collection H-555ās aesthetic has been elevated with multi-ply binding on the body, headstock, and pickguard. Its neck, sculpted in a classic ā50s profile, delivers effortless comfort and is adorned with elegant block inlays, seamlessly blending style with playability. Gold hardware complements the aesthetic, exuding elegance while presenting the H-555 as a truly premium and versatile instrument for the discerning player.
Available in Ebony and Trans Cherry, each Core Collection H-555 is beautifully finished with a nitrocellulose vintage gloss that features a subtle shine and gracefully ages over time. An Artisan Aged option is also available for those seeking an authentically well-loved look and feel, achieved through a meticulous, entirely hand-finished aging process. The new Core Collection continues Heritageās tradition of world-class craftsmanship, offering a true masterpiece in tone and design for discerning players. Each guitar is shipped in a premium Heritage Custom Shop hard case.
Key Features
- Finest Tonewoods: Laminated highly figured Curly Maple (Top & Back) with solid Curly Maple sides
- Heritage Custom Shop 225 Hot Classic Humbuckers: Designed and wound in-house
- Headstock: Multi-ply bound headstock, featuring a Kite inlay, 3Ć3 tuners laser-etched with Heritage graphics
- Neck Profile: Comfortable ā50s C-shape for a vintage feel
- Bridge: Tune-O-Matic with aluminum stopbar tailpiece for enhanced sustain
- Made in the USA: Crafted at 225 Parsons Street
For more information, please visit heritageguitars.com.
Ariel Posen and the Heritage Custom Shop Core Collection H-555 - YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.Fifteen watts that sits in a unique tone space and offers modern signal routing options.
A distinct alternative to the most popular 1x10 combos. Muscular and thick for a 1x10 at many settings. Pairs easily with single-coils and humbuckers. Cool looks.
Tone stack could be more rangeful.
$999
Supro Montauk
supro.com
When you imagine an ideal creative space, what do you see? A loft? A barn? A cabin far from distraction? Reveling in such visions is inspiration and a beautiful escape. Reality for most of us, though, is different. Weāre lucky to have a corner in the kitchen or a converted closet to make music in. Still, thereās a romance and sense of possibility in these modest spaces, and the 15-watt, 1x10, all-tubeSupro Montauk is an amplifier well suited to this kind of place. It enlivens cramped corners with its classy, colorful appearance. Itās compact. Itās also potent enough to sound and respond like a bigger amp in a small room.
The Montauk works in tight quarters for reasons other than size, thoughāwith three pre-power-section outputs that can route dry signal, all-wet signal from the ampās spring reverb, or a mixture of both to a DAW or power amplifier.
Different Stripes and Spacious Places
Vintage Supro amps are modestly lovely things. The China-made Montauk doesnāt adhere toold Supro style motifs in the strictest sense. Its white skunk stripe is more commonly seen on black Supro combos from the late 1950s, while the blue ārhino hideā vinyl evokes Supros from the following decade. But the Montaukās handsome looks make a cramped corner look a lot less dour. It looks pretty cool on a stage, too, but the Montauk attribute most likely to please performing guitarists is the small size (17.75" x 16.5" x 7.5") and light weight (29 pounds), which, if you tote your guitar in a gig bag and keep your other stuff to a minimum, facilitates magical one-trip load ins.
Keen-eyed Supro-spotters noting the Montaukās weight and dimensions might spy the similarities to another 1x10 Supro combo,the Amulet. A casual comparison of the two amps might suggest that the Montauk is, more-or-less, an Amulet without tremolo and power scaling. They share the same tube complement, including a relatively uncommon 1x6L6 power section. But while the Montauk lacks the Amuletās tremolo, the Montaukās spring reverb features level and dwell controls rather than the Amuletās single reverb-level knob.
āHigh reverb levels and low dwell settings evoke a small, reflective room with metallic overtones from the spring sprinkled on topāleaving ghostly ambience in the wake of strong, defined transient tones.ā
If you use reverb a lot and in varying levels of intensity, youāll appreciate the extra flexibility. High reverb levels and low dwell settings evoke a small, reflective room with metallic overtones from the spring sprinkled on topāleaving ghostly ambience in the wake of strong, defined transient tones. There are many shades of this subtle texture to explore, and itās a great sound and solution for those who find the spring reverbs in Fender amps (which feature no dwell control) an all-or-nothing proposition. For those who like to get deep in the pipeline, though, the dwell offers room to roam. Mixing high level and dwell settings blunts the ampās touch sensitivity a bit, and at 15 watts you trade headroom for natural compression, compounding the fogginess of these aggressive settings. A Twin Reverb it aināt. But there is texture aplenty to play with.
A Long, Wide Strand
Admirably, the Montauk speaks in many voices when paired with a guitar alone. The EQ sits most naturally and alive with treble and bass in the noon-to-2-oāclock region, and a slight midrange lean adds welcome punch. Even the ampās trebliest realms afford you a lot of expressive headroom if you have enough range and sensitivity in your guitar volume and tone pots. Interactions between the gain and master output controls yield scads of different tone color, too. Generally, I preferred high gain settings, which add a firecracker edge to maximum guitar volume settings and preserve touch and pick response at attenuated guitar volume and tone levels.
If working with the Montauk in this fashion feels natural, youāll need very few pedals. But itās a good fit for many effects. A Fuzz Face sounded nasty without collapsing into spitty junk, and the Klon-ish Electro-Harmonix Soul Food added muscle and character in its clean-boost guise and at grittier gain levels. Thereās plenty of headroom for exploring nuance and complexity in delays and modulations. It also pairs happily with a wide range of guitars and pickups: Every time I thought a Telecaster was a perfect fit, Iād plug in an SG with PAFs and drift away in Mick Taylor/Stones bliss.
The Verdict
Because the gain, master, tone, and reverb controls are fairly interactive, it took me a minute to suss out the Montaukās best and sweetest tones. But by the time I was through with this review, I found many sweet spots that fill the spaces between Vox and Fender templates. Thereās also raunch in abundance when you turn it up. Itās tempting to view the Montauk as a competitor to the Fender Princeton and Vox AC15. At a thousand bucks, itās $400 dollars less than the Mexico-made Princeton ā68 Custom and $170 more than the AC15, also made in China. In purely tone terms, though, it represents a real alternative to those stalwarts. Iād be more than happy to see one in a backline, provided I wasnāt trying to rise above a Geezer Butler/Bill Ward rhythm section. And with its capacity for routing to other amps and recording consoles in many intriguing configurations, it succeeds in being a genuinely interesting combination of vintage style and sound and home-studio utilityāall without adding a single digital or solid-state component to the mix.
Watch the official video documenting the sold-out event at House of Blues in Anaheim. Join Paul Reed Smith and special guests as they toast to quality and excellence in guitar craftsmanship.
PRS Guitars today released the official video documenting the full night of performances at their 40th Anniversary celebration, held January 24th in conjunction with the 2025 NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants) Show. The sold-out, private event took place at House of Blues in Anaheim, California and featured performances by PRS artists Randy Bowland, Curt Chambers, David Grissom, Jon Jourdan, Howard Leese, Mark Lettieri Group, Herman Li, John Mayer, Orianthi, Tim Pierce, Noah Robertson, Shantaia, Philip Sayce, and Dany Villarreal, along with Paul Reed Smith and his Eightlock band.
āWhat a night! Big thanks to everyone who came out to support us: retailers, distributors, vendors, content creators, industry friends, and especially the artists. I loved every second. We are so pleased to share the whole night now on this video,ā said Paul Reed Smith, Founder & Managing General Partner of PRS Guitars. āI couldnāt be more proud to still be here 40 years later.ā
With nearly 1,400 of the whoās who in the musical instrument industry in attendance, the night ended with a thoughtful toast from PRS Signature Artist John Mayer, who reflected on 40 years of PRS Guitars and the quality that sets the brand apart. āThe guitars are great. You canāt last 40 years if the guitars arenāt great,ā said Mayer. āMany of you started hearing about PRS the same way I did, which is you would talk about PRS and someone would say āTheyāre too nice.ā Whatās too nice for a guitar? What, you want that special vibe that only tuning every song can give you on stage? You want that grit just like your heroes ā¦ bad intonation? The product is incredible.ā